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Eyes That Have Cried

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The phrase “There are many things that can only be seen through eyes that have cried” is attributed to Óscar Romero, a Catholic priest in El Salvador. He was a critic of the military government and was assasinated in March 1980 while saying mass. He was made a saint in 2015. (WP)

Sister Janet Mead had a surprise hit in 1973 with a pop-rock rendition of the Lord’s Prayer (youtube).

This mural will be ten years old this (2023) summer, as will the Eileen Hickey Republican Museum mural that it is next to — see Eileen Hickey.

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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100 Years Of Partition

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Here is a gallery of the smaller piece on the building below Divis tower (except for the Welcome mural – see Gateway To West Belfast). From right to left (top to bottom in this post) we see a 32 County Sovereignty Movement mural, with the island of Ireland in green, white, and orange, and (representing prisoners) barbed wire and a candle; “Black lives matter” from People Before Profit; 32CSM tarp opposing “British political policing”; IRPWA board declaring the PSNI/MI5/British Army unwelcome; a 32CSM tarp against joy-riding; a Lasair Dhearg poster marking 100 years of … “pogroms, sectarianism, job discrimination, police brutality, imprisonment, collusion, housing discrimination, Orange supremacy, torture, internment, special powers, state sponsored death squads, language discrimination, gerrymandering, women’s rights denied, colonialism.”

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Unlock Your Lockdown

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Domestic abuse reports to PSNI in the second quarter of 2020 (during the first Covid lockdown) increased 4% to 8,302 (BelTel). Women’s Aid NI (web | tw) provides refuge and support to victims of domestic violence. The stencil by Laura Nelson & Leo Boyd from VaultNI is on Carrick Hill. The title of today’s post comes from Women’s Aid CEO Sarah Mason (tw).

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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Conscience

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“Cogús supports the republican prisoners”. Cogús (Fb) is (was?) the prisoners’ welfare arm of the RNU. The board above — using a vintage illustration going back to 1981’s I’ll Wear No Convict’s Uniform — replaced More Blacks, More Gays, More Irish on Pantridge Road, Dunmurry, joining the “Join RNU” and mental health boards shown below.

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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Band Of Brothers

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This board has a dual purpose. On the one hand, it was part of celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of the Battle Of Britain, which was waged from July to October in 1940. On the other, it is part of an anti-racism project, celebrating in particular the contributions to the Battle made by roughly 145 Polish aviators (WP) and especially the 303 squadron: “The Polish nation – part of us then, part of us now”. The 303 was later stationed in Northern Ireland for a time. (BBC-NI)

The artist is Ross Wilson. The colour version of the central photograph is available at the Housing Executive’s write-up of the project. Other reports: Belfast Live | NewsLetter

This is the second copy of this board – the first was damaged by an arson attack in 2018.

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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Ring Of Peace

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The speech balloons that were added to the Ring Of Peace mural in Waring Street to advertise office space are still there, seven years later.

The bubbles read “Forget it, Muriel. I’m moving my business to CQHQ without you!” “Oh Jeff … It’s too close to the City Centre! I want to be with nature …”.

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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Kent Street Street Art

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Here is a gallery of the street art in Kent Street, starting, above, with Mr Cenz’s 2021 piece. In order, below, we have work by …

Curtis Hylton (2022)
ESTR (2019)
Leo Boyd (2022)
Alana McDowell (2022)
Glen Molloy (2022)
Conor McClure (2022)
NRMN (2022)
HMConstance (2022)
Kilian (2022)
Kerrie Hanna (2022)
Dan Leo (2016)
Bust (2022)
Conzo + Glöbel (2018)
… north side of the street …
ADW (2022)
JMK (2022)
emic (2016)

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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Same Story, Same Bigotry

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Londoner Stephen Lawrence was murdered by stabbing in 1993 and, although arrests were made, no charges were brought. A 1998 public inquiry found that the Metropolitan Police Service was “institutionally racist”. In 2012, two of the original suspects were found guilty of the murder (WP). Catholic Robert Hamill was beaten to death by loyalists in Portadown in 1997 while police in an RUC land-rover looked on (WP).

Brompton Park, Belfast. The same board (in slightly different colours) appeared in Artana Street, south Belfast.

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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What Would Socrates Do?

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Holy Cross [Boys] Primary School [“HCPS”] distributes student into four “houses” within the school for motivational purposes but unlike the four houses of Hogwarts (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin) these are named for famous philosophers. Students in all seven years take one hour of philosophy a week – staff are trained by The Philosophy Foundation (HCPS Prospectus) – and they now have a mural just outside the school gates to encourage them in the four “R”s – “reflective, reasoned, responsive, re-evaluative”. The mural shows a student (Conor) sitting in the pose of Auguste Rodin’s Le Penseur/The Thinker, bringing to mind sayings of the four philosophers: (from left to right) “Quality is not an act, it is a habit” – Aristotle; “I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think” – Socrates; “He who knows only his own side knows little” – JS Mill; “Philosophy begins in wonder” – Plato.

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